Tension device.



F. S. RAND & G. N. TAYLOR.

TENSION DEVICE. APPLICATHJN FILED A PR.20. 1914.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

wlT NEEs EORGE NLTAYLOR, OF 'EAST PROVIDENCE,

FES'IUSS. BAND. 0! PROVIDENCE, AND G I RSAL WINDING' COMPANY OF PORTLAND,

RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNORS TO- UNIVE MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

" orr onfl TENSION DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 20, 1914. Serial No. 833,305.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Fns'rUs S. RAND and GEORGE N. TAYLOR, citizens of the United States, residing at Providence and East Providence, respectively, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tension Devices, of whlchthe following is a specification.

Our invention relates to tension-devices for use in applying tension to a running thread or yarn in delivering the same to textile apparatus such as winding machmes.

Our improvement consists particularly 1n providing means for facilitating the threading of the yarn into the tension-dev ce to prepare it for operation and to msure against improper threading through carelessness or from other cause.

The manner and means for carrying out the improvement are fully described in the following specification, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in-which hke' reference characters designate like parts.-

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete tension-device with the operators hand shown by dotted lines to illustrate the method of threading the yarn between the tension-members; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism showing the manner inwhich the tension-members act on the yarn to apply resistance to its draft.

The present improvement is applied to that type of tension-devices generally known as f grid or ladder 7 tensions in which two grid-like members 01'' plates are arranged to press against the yarn running between them. The tension-members may be of any appropriate form; or construction and as here shown consist of rectangular sheet-metal plates T and T adapted to be supported on a frame or bracket B. The bracket B comprises a bow-shaped upright 6 formed at its extremities with forwardlyprojecting lugs or arms 6, 6 as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. Projecting rearwardly from the top of the member' I) is a lug b provided with a hole b see Fig. 2,by means of which the bracket is secured to the frame or other part of the machine on which the tension-device is to be used. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the bracket B is secured to a rail It or other support by means of the screw 1',

and preferably the bearing-face 1" on which the lug b rests is slightly beveled ofi' so that the upright b will set at an angle to the perpendlcular. This arrangement provides for settmgthe tension-members T and T in an inclined position for a purpose as later described. L

Extending parallel with the member I) of the bracket B is a pin or rod P having its ends mounted in the lugs 12', 6 The rodP serves as a hinge-pin and support for the tension-members T, T which are formed at their top and bottom edges with lugs t, t, see Flg. 2, provided with holes for. receivmg the rod. One member T is preferably held fixedly on the bracket B to prevent it Patented Oct. 19, 1915. p

from turning on the rod P, and to. provide for this a lug t extending rearwardly from 1ts side is secured to the upright b by means of a screw 8, see Fig. 2. The other member T is adapted to swing on the rod P to carry it toward and away from the fixed member -T'. For controlling'the movement of the member T an arm t is provided, preferably formed as an extension of the upper bearing-lugt. At the end of the arm t is a hole t which serves as a convenient'means for fastening the end 0f a cord 0. From the arm t the cord 0 leads over a wire bail e and to its opposite end'is secured a hook it which engages a hole in the end of a rod w. The rod to is adapted to receive one or more per forated disks or weights W which act through the cord 0 and arm 25? to swing the movable tension-member T toward the fixed member T.

As before stated, the tension-members T andTfmightbe of any usual construction as generally employed in the art. We prefer, however, to make themof sheet-metal in order to render, them relatively light while having thefrequired strength and rigidity,"and for economy in manufacture We make use of punchings. Each plate has an upright member 15 formed at its top and bottom with the bent over bearing-lugs t, t,

etc., as before described, and the main portions of the plates are preferably provided with spaced-apart cross-bars or arms t", t,

etc. The cross-bars t are so arranged that when the two plates are placed opposite each other on the frame B they stand in staggered relation. That is to say, the bars on.

the two plates arearranged alternately, with those on one plate coming opposite to the spaces on the other plate in the same man*- yarn is given a more or less tortuous or sinuous courseas it passes between the tension-members to providea resistance toits draft. It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the cross-bars t are formed slightly concaved on their inner, opposed faces, in other words, bowed out away from each other, thus providing a sort of trough or passage for the yarn y 'so that the tendency will be for it to {)emain in place at or near the center of the ars. Below the two tension-members 'T, T is a V-shaped guide-member. G which is preferably constructed of wire bent into shape to form a crotch g and two diverging branches 9, 9. At 9 g the wire is doubled back underneath the branches 9, g to form two legs g g, the ends of which are driven into holes in the lower lug b of the bracket B. The guide .G is designed to as- .sist inthreading the yarn ybetween the ten- I sion-plates or member T, T, as later explained, and also serves to prevent the yarn from whipping back and forth against the faces of the plates as it leads therebetween.

On the top of the bracket B is illustrated a slub-catcher or yarnclearer of usual form,

but this isknot essential to the operation of the tension-device. v"Usually some arrangement of this sort is employed, however, for

cleaning theyarn before it passes to the machine, and themost convenient position for locating it is inc'ombination with-the tension-bracket. As shown in Fig. 1, the slub-catcher D comprises two plate-like members 03, 0? arranged in substantially the same plane and formed with coiiperating edges which are spaced slightly apart at d to provide a slit through which the: yarn draws. The upper edgesof the members at,

d are preferably formed at divergent angles to provide a V-shaped troughwhich serves to guide the yarn into the slit between the two members. Placed in front of the plates d, d is a roll or guide Hover w 'ch the yarn leads as it draws through the .slit d.

Referring again to the two tension-meme bers T, T-, the "outer ends of the cross-bars t, -2 are connected by upright pieces made integral with the main plates and bent at an angle thereto, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. When the members T,*T arev assembled on the bracket B their flaring sides or upright portions 2%, t will set at-substam tially right-angles to each other so as to form a trough-like opening for directing and leading the yarn y in place between the ars t.

This provides that, the bars of'one As the hand draws up in front of the T, T the yarn 3/ will seat itself of'its own .the back of the At the bottom of the movable tenshown in Fig. 2, the finger t lies across the lower edges of the members to prevent the yarn from whipping out of place. When the movable member T isswung away from the fixed member T, as shown in Fig. 1, the elb0w like end of the finger t will .becarried out away from the lower cross-bar t on the member T to allow the entrance of th -e1 1yarn between the two members. sion-member away from the fixed member in threading the yarn therebetween constitutes the essential feature of the present invention and will next be described. It con sists simply of a "wedge-shaped, wing-like projection T on the outer edge of the tension-member T adapted to be engaged by the operators finger F, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. This engagement takes place during the normal operation of drawing the yarn iip through the guide G, so that the natural movement of the hand acts to open the tension-device without conscious efiort on the part of the operator. The proection T may be formed integral with the member T or maybe made separate therefrom and attached by rivets,solder or in any other suitable manner. Preferably, its outer edge is curled or rolled over to provide a smooth, front" surface on which the finger bears, and its upper corner is roundedofi and continued in the rounded topede I i h method ofoperation of the complete device is as follows:

The supply-cop or spool, not here shown,

from which the yarn is delivered to the The hand is then drawn up in front of the guide G and along the front edges of the tension-members T, T, then over the guide G and slub catcher D and thence, the yarn passes through suitable guides, not here shown, to the winding-spindle or other part of the machine to which it isto besupplied. plates accord in the crotch g of the guide G.

as the movement of the hand is continued forefinger F will en the wedge-member T on the plate T and sliding up the incline of its outeredge will actto swing the plate T away from the e means for swinging themovable ten- Now,

gage

letting the free length pass back of .the other fingers as illustrated in Fig. 1.

tween it and the fixed tension T.

ment made by into'position between the flaring edges t,

t of thetension-members T,"T',' will cause the finger F I to be engaged with the projection T on the memberT to swing the latter backwardly to, open upa space be- During this opening movement of the movable member T its finger t lower cross-bar t on the member T" so that the yarn will have free access to its place between the two members. Now, since the tension-members are set at an angle to the perpendicular, as previously described, the hand in passing over the top of the device to seat the yarn in the slub-catcher D will naturally draw the yarn well in between the opposed faces of the cross-bar t so that there is no possibilitv of the device being improperly taken up by dle, or other machine element to which it is being supplied, straight line between the crotch g of the guide G and the outer face of the roll or guide H. The yarn is thus ma ntained in position crossing he bars t" substantially midway of their ends and the weights W acting through to swing the movable tension-member T toward the fixed member T to apply a pressure which sinuates the course of the yarn over the cross-bars and thus applies resistance to its draft.

It will beseen that our improvement provides a very simple and efiicient means for opening the tension-device which can be operated automatically from the natural or normal movement of the hand in drawing the yarn up into place, and without conscious effort on the operators part. The operator is simply instructed to draw the yarn up between the tension-members 1n the easiest and most convenient way, and during this operation the hand will invariably strike against the movable the yarn cord. In this way there is no danger of the yarn catching on obstructions or'being otherwise prevented from entering between the tension-members, so that improper threading of the device is well nigh impossible. It will also be observed that only one hand is required to thread the yarn into place while in some devices of this sort it is necessary to use both hands. This improvement allows the use of the other hand for drawing out the end in piecing or tying up after a yarn has broken and consequently this work can be done much more expeditiously'so that a considerable saving is made in the operation of thewhole machine, whereby its rate of production is materially tension-member back so that will be swung clear of the" threaded: When the -yarn"is the draft of the winding-spin it will be drawn taut in a the cord 0 and arm 2?? serve the opener-device and swing will fall into place of its ownac-,

increased. Furthermore, the product of the machine will be greatly improved in many instances because a uniform and constant" tension on the yarn is insured without defects-from lack of tension due to improper threading. In many cases carelessness on the part of the operator will result'in the yarn nothbeing properly drawn into the tension device and henceeither no tensionat all will be applied thereto or else the yarn will catch on some protruding part and be strained or broken. As before stated, with the present arrangement it is practically impossible forthe o erator to'fail f to thread the device proper y and hence a' considerable saving'is made in time and also in material on account of the elimination of waste.

We are aware that it has previously been proposed to provlde means for mechanically opening a tension-device to insure the proper threading of the yarn therein. Heretofore, however, such arrangements have usually been operated from a moving member of the machine to'which the device is attached and this entails the use of more or less complicated and expensive mechanism. The importance of having the tension-members opened to receive the yarnin threading up th machine can be seen from the fact that these complicated devices have previously been experimented with, and the benefit of the present improvement will be all the more apparent when it is realized how simple and efiicient the new arrangement is.

In some tension-devices both tension-members are adapted to be moved to press'upon. the yarn, and with such a form-of construction each member could'be provided with the opening-device T. It is obvious, also, that other modifications might be made in the form and arrangement of the parts of the complete device without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; therefore, without'limiting ourselves to the exact construction shown and described,

What we claim is 1. In a tension-device for applying tension to a traveling yarn, the combination of two members arranged to press upon the yarn running between them, with a projection on one of said members formed with an inclined face adapted to be engaged by the operators hand during the movement made in drawing the yarn up between the members so that said member will be forced away from the other member-to allow free entrance of the yarn therebetween.

2. In a tension-device, the combination of two members, one fixed and the other hinged to swing toward and away therefrom, said the two members,.saidmovable member hav-- ing a triangular finger-piece with an in b said members having yarn therebetween.

fixed'memb'er to allow free entrance of the Y 3. In a tension-device, the combination with a'fixed member, of a movable member arranged in op osition thereto and adapted.

to press upon 1; e-yarn as it' draws between clined face adapted to be engaged by the operators hand in drawin tween the members to orce said movable member away froni the. fixed-'member-and allow free entrance of the yarn therebetween.

4. In a tension-device, the combination with two members arranged opposite each other, of means to press said members together to apply tension to the yarn as it draws between them, with one or each of jection on its outer edge adapted to be engaged by the operators hand during the movement made thereby in drawing the yarn up between the members to force said members apart and allow free entrance of the yarn therebetween.

. 5. In a tension-device, the combination with two grid-like platesformed with parallel bars across which the yarn draws; of a means to press one plate toward the other to sinuate the course of the yarn as it passes over the bars, with oneor each of the plates having a projection on its outer-edge formed with an inclined face adapted to be engaged the yarn up bewardly inclined Jgaged by the therebetween.

a wedge-shaped pro-,

meaear by'the o erators hand to force the plates apart to acilitate threading the yarn therebetween. v g a 6. In a tension-device, the combination with two plates ar u g d with their opposed faces bearing on the yarn running between them, of means to press said plates against the yarn *to apply tension thereto, the edges of eplates being flared outwardly to part vide a trough-like entrance for the yarn, and one-or each of said edges formed with an upprojection adapted to be enplate's a'partto acilitate' threading the yarn In a tension-device, the combination wail afbracket, of a tension-member held fixedly on sald bracket, a second tensionmember hinged on the bracket to swing toward and away from"- the fixed member means acting to yieldingly press the hinged a member toward the fixed member,-and said hinged member formed with an upwardly inclined face on its outer edge adapted to be engaged by the operators hand in drawing the yarn up in front of the members to carry the hinged member back into en position.

In testimony whereof we a our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

' .FESTUS S1. RAND.

P GEORGE N. TAYLOR. J

ofpera'tors hand to force the 

